The Corner Store
by LeytonBrulianNaley
Summary: Life in Tree Hill just got a little more complicated. AU
1. New Kid On The Block

_This story is completely AU. The setting is in Tree Hill, obviously, but no one is related except for Karen and Lucas, and this Tree Hill is bigger, so no one really knows anyone else in the beginning. The relationships will be obvious as the story progresses, with lots of little twists and turns. Enjoy, readers._

_I do not own One Tree Hill in any way, shape or form. If I did, James Lafferty would have been my New Year's kiss tonight._

My mom has always been an awesome cook. Ever since I can remember, she's been making some mean macaroni and cheese. Every time I get sick, she makes me chicken noodle soup…from scratch. And Christmas cookies might as well be gourmet. All in all, the woman is a champ, and cooking is the only thing that really makes her truly happy, so it was no surprise to me when she told me six months ago that she was going to open a restaurant. The only thing was I had to move to some little town two hours away from my hometown for Mom to get that dream. I went without complaint. She needed to be happy, and if this restaurant in some little backwater town was going to do that; I was willing to relocate anywhere she wanted.

Construction went down pretty fast. Mom has always been one for efficiency, so I knew that it wouldn't be long before we were ready to open. The day that the store was projected to be ready to open was right around the start of school, so at the end of the summer, we packed up our stuff and moved to Tree Hill. Mom had already guaranteed me a job in the store, but today she had to interview some other kids to work as cooks and waitresses. For some reason, the woman wanted my input, so we arrived at the store at 10:30. Right about the time the first victim was supposed to be showing up.

I set up a table at the front of the store. It had three chairs around it and on top was a folder that held all of the applications that had been dropped off since we started accepting them. Our first interviewee was a boy named Nathan Scott. He was the captain of the basketball team and had absolutely no work experience. That counted as a strike against him for me, but knowing Mom, she'd hire him if he was nice enough. She has a soft spot for people that she feels like she can make better.

Mom and I got seated and waited patiently for the boy to show up. A tall brunette came running up the stairs soon enough, and when he walked in, he smiled at the two of us. Mom smiled back.

"Sorry if I'm late, ma'am. Basketball practice got out late." He shook her hand, and mine, before he took the seat that I motioned him into.

"It's perfectly fine, Nathan. My name is Karen Roe, and this is my son Lucas."

I smiled the most friendly smile I could muster and the boy grinned back. "It's very nice to meet you."

We went through the simple interview process. Mom asked him about his life, and the boy answered what seemed to be honestly. He smiled a lot, and seemed intelligent enough. She grinned at him after his interview and said, "Well, Nathan, it looks like you just became the first employee to be hired at The Corner Store. You start tomorrow."

The boy beamed. "Thank you so much, Ms. Roe. You won't regret it!"

He shook our hands and ran out, triumphant and employed.

I shot a look at Mom. "I hope you know what you're doing, woman."

She glowered at me, and elbowed me in the ribs.

We did the whole interview thing about a million times that day and ended up with a full staff. There was a peppy girl, who was the head cheerleader at Tree Hill High, named Brooke Davis. The moment she walked in, I knew that she was going to be mine. I've never been in love before, but it was like the moment I saw the tiny brunette, I knew I had to have her. Her best friends came in after her. Haley, a sweet little blonde girl, was sure to be a great waitress. She had great people skills and an amazing smile. Peyton, a curly Goldilocks looking girl, looked like she was going to have a lot of fight in her, but in a good way. A ditzy blonde named Bevin and a fiery redhead named Rachel rounded out the waitresses. They were all smiley and seemed like good girls.

The cooks were an interesting bunch. Along with Nathan, Mom had also hired a boy named Jake. His eyes locked in on Peyton the moment that she had walked in the door, and he seemed like a good kid. There was a nerdy boy named Marvin, but he preferred to be called Mouth, a black boy named Skills who seemed like he was going to be hilarious and a pretty boy type named Chris Keller who annoyingly spoke in third person, who looked like he was going to be trouble.

All in all, we had a good crew. They had better be, because they all started the next day.


	2. I'm Afraid of Losing You

_This story is completely AU. The setting is in Tree Hill, obviously, but no one is related except for Karen and Lucas, and this Tree Hill is bigger, so no one really knows anyone else in the beginning. The relationships will be obvious as the story progresses, with lots of little twists and turns. Btdubs, my chapter titles are usually the song that inspired the chapter. They do not necessarily denote what will happen in the chapter. Enjoy, readers, and remember to read and review!_

_I do not own One Tree Hill in any way, shape or form. If I did, James Lafferty would be standing next to me right now._

If there is one thing that I hate doing, it's waking up early. I loathe it. I loathe it even more when there is a woman standing above me and continuously poking me with her talon like nails.

"Mom, five more minutes. All I want is five more minutes."

She rolled her eyes and proceeded to continue poking me. "That's what you said twenty minutes ago, you lazy bum. Now wake up, or everyone is going to beat the boss to the store on the first day."

The first day. Of course. The first day at the store, the first full day in this town. The first new day of the rest of my life. The first day.

"Alright, woman. I'll move. Just get out."

My mom smiled down at me and shook her curly black hair from her face. "That's my boy."

I rolled my eyes as she left the room and stripped quickly. I showered and shaved in record time, threw on a pair of slacks and a white button down shirt and a pair of dress shoes, and met Mom in the car.

She smiled at me. "Record time, kid."

I grinned back, and started the car. The drive to the store was silent, but I think we were both nervous. It was Mom's first day being a boss and my first day training everyone else. We had told everyone to report at the store at ten in the morning, even though we didn't open until four in the afternoon. We had six hours to teach all of them everything that they needed to know. It was going to be a long day.

When we arrived at the store, I let Mom out at the curb, and I drove down the street to find somewhere to park. As I was walking back up the sidewalk to the store, my cell phone started ringing.

I like a girl that can take control. Funny, cute and kiss-

I answered the phone before anyone could hear my embarrassing ringtone. It was my ex-girlfriend Nikki calling me, and I knew immediately that this was a conversation I did NOT want to be having.

"What, Nicole?"

I could hear her smirk on the other end of the phone. "Nicole? Getting a little formal now, aren't we, Luke?"

I groaned. "What do you want? Can't you just leave me alone? Haven't you done enough?"

"Oh, cut the dramatic crap, Luke. It takes two to tango. You know that just as well as I do. But there's a complication with everything that happened. I need to see you. Soon."

I could feel myself becoming physically ill. "Now soon is soon, Nicole?"

She paused, and I could hear her breathing heavily on the other end of the phone. She was nervous, talking to me. She was scared. "Tonight."

"Fine. Drive to Tree Hill. I get off work at 10. I'll see you then."

"Luke, wait-!"

I closed my phone, not even waiting to hear what she had to say. If she needed to talk to me that badly, she'd find a way to get to Tree Hill. How she did it wasn't my problem anymore.

I had reached the store by that point, but paused before going in. I needed to clear my head, just for a few seconds. I closed my eyes and paced back and forth. It was calming, in a repetitious way. Just back and forth and back and forth and back and-

"Hey! Excuse you!"

I opened my eyes in shock and was faced with Brooke Davis in front of me.

"Oh my gosh, Brooke, I'm so sorry! It was completely accidental and I totally didn't mean to hit you. I was just-"

"Just not paying attention," she laughed. "It's all good. I was just scared for a second. But there was no harm done. So, no harm, no foul."

She smiled at me charmingly. She was wearing a short, pleated black skirt and a white turtleneck. She looked like a Catholic school wet dream. God, I needed her. Just looking at her made me forget all my problems with Nikki.

I stood there staring at her until she raised an eyebrow and said, "Uh, Lucas? Are you okay?"

I snapped out of my reverie and grinned at her. "Yeah, sorry. I just spaced. Uh, do you wanna go on in? We should probably start soon."

I held the door to The Corner Store open for her, and followed after. Everyone was there, except for my mom, who had told me that it was perfectly fine for me to start without her. I swallowed nervously and then whistled to get the attention of the group.

"Hi, everyone. So, we asked you all here to get trained up before we officially opened and, uh, I guess that's what we're gonna do. You all know I'm Lucas, and I'm gonna be in charge of training the waitresses. My mom will train the cooks. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. So let's get started. Boys, go ahead and head towards the kitchen. Ladies, you're with me."

The fiery red head, named Rachel, in my memory serves, winked and said, "Oh yes, I am."

I looked up, and said a silent prayer to God, hoping that he wouldn't let these women eat me alive. All I knew is it was going to be a long day.


End file.
